Los Angeles -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Songs recorded by the Beatles 50 years ago went on sale Tuesday to meet a deadline that otherwise would have made bootlegging the music legal .

If the music sounds familiar , you may have heard unauthorized , lesser-quality versions circulated by fans for decades -- or similar takes on the several anthology albums released over the years by the Beatles ' label , Apple Corps .

The 59 tracks downloadable on iTunes for $ 40 are previously unreleased . When John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr worked through a dozen or more takes of a song to get one they and producer George Martin liked , they likely hoped fans would never hear their mistakes . Some takes were so disliked that the tapes were destroyed .

The surviving recordings became a liability for the record label , because their copyright on unreleased material ends on January 1 , 2014 . Independent labels could legally sell compilations of rejected versions of Beatles hits . Releasing them now gives Apple another 20 years ' protection under a recent change in European law .

The British government , following the change in European copyright law , implemented a law last month providing `` that if a record label is not commercially releasing a track that is over 50 years old , then the performers can request that the rights in the performance revert to them -- a ` use it or lose it ' clause , '' the government 's website said .

Apple Corps did not comment to CNN on the motivation for the release , but the timing of the release and their naming it `` The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963 '' suggests the connection .

No doubt many hardcore Beatles fans around the world are bingeing on the 14 outtakes from three 1963 studio sessions , and the 44 songs from the dozens of BBC radio shows the group performed on when their fan base was mostly limited to the British Isles . The album also offers two demo recordings of songs written for others .

The first Beatles Abbey Road session

The first several tracks came from their legendary 13-hour session with Martin on February 11 , 1963 .

You 'll hear three full takes of `` There 's a Place , '' the first song they recorded that fateful day at EMI Studios in Abbey Road , London .

Some of the tracks apparently were recorded for good measure after the group already got a take they were satisfied with .

The new release includes the seventh take of `` Do You Want to Know a Secret , '' while the sixth one was released in 1963 . At the end of the take McCartney comments about the `` the do-da-do bits '' in the vocal harmonies .

The sixth take of `` Taste of Honey '' is included from that session . It was the fifth take with added vocals that made it on the 1963 album .

The Beatles got only three complete takes of `` I Saw Her Standing There '' out of nine attempts during that marathon first session . One was released in 1963 and a second in a 1995 anthology project . The new release , the second take , is the third and only previously unreleased complete version .

Two takes of `` Misery '' -- the first and seventh recording that afternoon -- are included . You will not hear Martin 's piano , which was dubbed onto the final version a week later .

Abbey Road Studio : March 1963

The two tracks of `` From Me to You '' offer a glimpse of the group 's studio demeanor during another Abbey Road session on March 5 , 1963 . They stop playing abruptly in the first take , with Martin asking why . `` I just thought I heard you talking actually . Did you whistle ? ''

One Beatle to another at the end of the second take : `` Ah , you missed the ending , baby . ''

`` George is to play the first bit of the instrumental , is n't he ? '' Lennon asks before they start another take . `` Key right into the harmony . ''

`` Thank You Girl , '' a song written as a tribute to their already dedicated female groupies , is next . The new release includes the first and fifth of 13 takes from the March session . The song was used as a B-side on a single .

Fans can enjoy a lot of chatter between the group on the two takes of `` One After 909 '' in the March session . `` What are you doing ? '' Lennon asks another when the first take falls apart . `` Are you out of your mind ? '' The song was not released until the Beatles played it on a rooftop for the 1970 `` Let It Be '' album .

The band seemed to struggle in that March session with `` Hold Me Tight , '' a song they later said they never cared for . The bootleg project gives you take 21 .

The last studio outtake on the album is `` Money -LRB- That 's What I Want -RRB- , '' recorded on July 18 , 1963 .

Beatles on the BBC 1963

The next 44 tracks are from the dozens of Beatles live appearances on BBC radio programs in 1963 , including `` Saturday Club , '' `` Easy Beat , '' `` Here We Go , '' `` Side By Side , '' `` From Us To Us '' and the group 's own weekly series , `` Pop Go The Beatles . ''

Several versions of their first big hit in England , `` Love Me Do , '' `` Taste of Honey '' and `` She Loves You '' are included . Some of the shows had live audiences , adding the flavor of screaming fans . The recording quality , none in stereo , varies from show to show , since the BBC was not trying to save the performances for later release .

The tracks include the BBC hosts ' introductions , which remind the listener of where the Beatles were in early 1963 .

`` For the moment the majority of the Beatles fans are in their hometown of Liverpool , and I have a very strong suspicion that it wo n't be long before they 're all over the country , '' the announcer said as he introduced their performance of `` Love Me Do '' on the BBC 's `` Easy Beat '' show on January 26 , 1963 .

The Beatles of myth , the Beatles of reality

The Beatles in color : Unseen photos

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Releasing the songs now gives Apple records 20 more years of copyright

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Many of these Beatles tracks have circulated in bootleg fashion for decades

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The first tracks are rejects from their legendary marathon recording Abbey Road session

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Most tracks are from live BBC radio performances in 1963